Membership Update

…Farming While Black, from page 29

generational wealth in the Black community and how white people can go beyond just being allies and become “co-conspirators” by directing money to communities that lack this key resource.

“… generational wealth within the Black community basically doesn’t exist,” McDowell said. “White people just don’t understand it because they are so used to having money passed down to them.”

While McDowell’s comments focused on increasing home ownership in the Black advance of Election you can vote-bycommunity to address gentrification, this notion of wealth redistribution is just as important when it comes to farming and agricultural land ownership.

Penniman describes her struggle to obtain land and how she had to settle for marginal acres on a mountainside. Over time, she and her family were able to build up the organic matter in that hardscrabble soil, but lack of generational wealth was a major hindrance. For too many Black farmers and other farmers of color, it’s an insurmountable barrier.

Early in Farming While Black, Penniman lays out the three essential ingredients for any beginning farmer: training, land, and material resources. Black farmers and other farmers of color have continued to have land, resources, and even cultural knowledge stolen from them. In an effort to address these barriers, Soul Fire Farm has created a reparations map (https://bit.ly/3jkGqfL) where Black farmers and farmers of color can list what they need so that those with resources can connect with them.

This redistribution of wealth and resources within the farming community is essential and more relevant than ever. Because, as Penniman writes toward the end of her eyeopening book, “To free ourselves, we must feed ourselves.” p

Molly DeVore is a senior at the University of Wisconsin-Madison studying journalism, environmental studies, and digital cinema production. She directs the urban agriculture program for the F.H. King student group and is the managing editor of the Badger Herald.

Membership Questions?

Membership Update I f you have questions about your Land Stewardship Project membership, contact LSP’s membership coordinator, Election Day is Nov. 3 — Are You Registered? or cmarcus@landstewardshipproject.org. To renew, mail in the envelope included T he date for casting ballots in the general election is Tuesday, November 3. Put democracy in action today by Finally, check-in with people you know to ensure they’re registered to vote, have a plan to vote, and have the support they need to vote-bywith this Land Stewardship Letter, or see www.landstewardshipproject.org/home/ donate. planning ahead and preparing to vote: mail. LSP’s sister organization, the Land Steward➔ To make sure you have a plan to vote, ship Action Fund (LSAF), has created a program Get Current With see https://bit.ly/31yxflc. — Land Stewardship: Democracy in Action — to ➔ To check your voter registration status help with having these conversations with your and register to vote if you are not already, see https://bit. ly/3aZPwdZ. ➔ Here in Minnesota, we can vote absentee in networks. See www.landstewardshipaction.org/ take-action/sign-up for details on signing up. For more information on LSAF, see www. landstewardshipaction.org, or contact Megan Jekot at 612-442-9899, mjekot@ landstewardshipaction.org. p S ign up for the LIVE-WIRE e-letter to get monthly updates from the Land Stewardship Project sent straight to your inbox. Details are at www.landstewardshipproject.org/signup. p Day by mail or inperson. To request In Memory & in Honor…

an absentee ballot T he Land Stewardship Project is grateful to have received the following gifts made to be sent to you so honor and remember loved ones and friends: Clara Sanders Marcus, at 612-722-6377 mail, see https://bit.ly/3gxI4YS. In Honor of Terry VanDerPol In Memory of Karl “Bill” Gossman ➔ Some cities and towns in Minnesota u Hawk Creek Prairie Farm u Janne Gossman & Family only use vote-by-mail. You can find out u Arlene Quam if you live in one of those places by using In Honor of SSND Jubilee Classes of the u Carolyn Lange Hatlestad the Secretary of State’s Poll Finder at Central Pacific Province Mankato Campus u Doris Gogelow https://bit.ly/3hx7c3p. u SSND/Kathleen Mary Kiemen u Tracy Sheeley ➔ Already voted by mail? Track the stau Nancy Johnson tus of your mail-in ballot to ensure it has In Honor of Sam Glover for his u Marvin & Suzanne Napgezek been accepted at https://bit.ly/31BenSF ➔ If you are not a Minnesota resident . work at Lawyerist u Ari Kaplan u City ofNew London and need help registering to vote in To donate to the Land Stewardship Project in the name of your home state, e-mail Emily Minge at In Memory of Dean Harrington someone, contact Clara Sanders Marcus at 612-722-6377 eminge@landstewardshipaction.org to u Bob Meyerson or cmarcus@landstewardshipproject.org. Donations can be receive the correct links. made online at www.landstewardshipproject.org/home/donate.

The Land Stewardship Project is a proud member of the Minnesota Environmental Fund, which is a coalition of environmental organizations in Minnesota that offers workplace giving as an option in making our communities better places to live. Together, member organizations of the Minnesota Environmental Fund work to:

➔ promote the sustainability of our rural communities and family farms; ➔ protect Minnesotans from health hazards; ➔ educate citizens and our youth on conservation efforts; ➔ preserve wilderness areas, parks, wetlands, and wildlife habitat.

You can support LSP in your workplace by giving through the Minnesota Environmental Fund. Options include giving a designated amount through payroll deduction, or a single gift. You may also choose to give to the entire coalition or specify the organization of your choice within the coalition, such as the Land Stewardship Project.

If your employer does not provide this opportunity to give through the Minnesota Environmental Fund, ask the person in charge of workplace giving to include it. For details, contact LSP’s Amelia Shoptaugh at amelias@landstewardshipproject.org or 612-722-6377.

Member Voices When We Lose Farmers & Farms, We Lose Community

Land Stewardship Project member Chad Crowley farms with his wife, Melissa, near Nodine in southeastern Minnesota. They are in the process of taking over the operation of longtime dairy farmers Art and Jean Thicke. During an LSP farm crisis forum last winter in Preston, Minn., Crowley spoke about the impact the loss of independent family farms is having on his community: “I used to be a volunteer firefighter with the Nodine Fire Department, and

I’ve seen a lot of stuff in the small communities. One of the things I’ve seen is how there aren’t volunteers anymore.

Because there are fewer farms, there are fewer people living on the land. People have to get a job in town. They can’t respond from town to a fire department call-out.

“We’re losing community involvement as the farmers are moving off the land. On our ridge alone, at one time we had eight dairy farms. We’re the last one.

There’s only one other farm on our ridge.

It’s a beef farm. That’s it.

Chad Crowley: “It could go a long way if

people reached out.” (LSP Photo) “When you have fewer farmers, who do I turn to? I can’t go to my neighbor who works in town, and say, ‘Oh my gosh, today I had this problem with a cow or I’m having this other farm problem.’

Yes, he’s sympathetic and will say, ‘Oh

I’m sorry to hear that.’ But he doesn’t understand it. So, I think it’s making it harder and harder, mentally, for dairy

farmers and farmers in general, when you don’t have people to be able to go to and find out that you aren’t the only person in that situation, that other people are facing hard times. “When you’re dealing with farmers, myself included, sometimes we don’t express ourselves very well when it comes to hardships. Or we don’t go and look for where there’s resources, or where we could turn. “Maybe as a community we need to come together and realize that farmers are hurting, that maybe they’re not going to come to you. But if you can see it, come to them. Reach out to them. Just ask them, ‘How are you doing?’ I’m not just talking financially. We all know now it’s not the greatest. But just, ‘How do you feel? How’s your day going?’ It could go a long way if people reached out.” p There are several excellent resources for farmers who are facing emotional, economic, or weather-related problems. See the sidebar below for more information.

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is a national network of local crisis centers that provides free and confidential emotional support to people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress 24-hours-a-day, 7-days-a-week. The Lifeline is committed to improving crisis services and advancing suicide prevention by empowering individuals, advancing professional best practices, and building awareness. Call 1-800-273-8255.

LSP Farm Crisis Resources

Feeling stressed or know someone who is? Check out LSP’s list of hotlines, websites, and other resources at www.landstewardshipproject. org/farmcrisis.

See pages 10-11 for more on LSP’s farm crisis work and details on new resources that have been made available to Minnesota farmers facing possible foreclosure and other issues.